Opioid Abuse after TBI
Abstract
The goal of this project is to evaluate the hypothesis that traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces alterations in the brains reward circuitry which may make an injured brain more susceptible to the rewarding effects of opioids. We conducted experiments to evaluate the hypothesis that TBI causes changes in the analgesic response to opioids following acute and repeated drug administration. We secondly tested the hypothesis that moderate TBI increases the susceptibility for opioid abuse as measured by an alteration in the rewarding properties of oxycodone. We have completed the experimentation and found that TBI induces alteration induration of transient unconsciousness, the rewarding properties of oxycodone, and the brain circuitry related to reward signaling. We also found that TBI does not significantly change the analgesic properties of oxycodone or the rewarding effects of food. We conclude from our study that TBI induces alterations in the brain reward circuitry which lead to a significant increase in the rewarding effects of oxycodone.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Sep 01, 2015
- Accession Number
- AD1007897
Entities
People
- Candace L. Floyd
- Katherine L. Nicholson
Organizations
- University of Alabama at Birmingham